Those Strong of Heart
by WolfDiva
Summary: When the villains of all the seasons band together for a goal that only they know, the females of all five seasons are vanishing. When Hikari is one of those who vanish, Taichi embarks on a quest to find her and save the other girls. AU
1. The Plans They Made

Disclaimer: I do not own Digimon or Kingdom Hearts.

Notes: Well, this fic is loosely based on Kingdom Hearts. (The first one.) This will be mainly a crossover between seasons (all five) though there might be some other fandoms coming into play later on.

* * *

Prologue: The Plans They Made

Her hands hovered over the piano keys quite nervously. Her eyes did a quick search around the small white room. Other than noticing it was slightly cloudy outside through the small window in the wall, there was nothing worth noting. It was just her and the large piano, which by itself took up most of the space, in the room. She adjusted her position on the piano stool and put her fingers in the positions that her mother had taught her so long ago.

When she started to play, her fingers messed up the movements needed to play the music on the sheet of music in front of her. Wincing, she tried again. Again, her playing did not produce the right music. It was a simple piece and she had done it many times before, sometimes in front of small audiences. She tried to start from the beginning. Again, the music was not produced. The movements of her hands on the keys were slow and clumsy, not the movements needed to play the piano correctly.

A bolt of pain, originating in her chest, shot through her body. This in itself wasn't unusual, she should have expected it. Gripping her chest where her heart had been before _they_ had gotten a hold of her, she felt the familiar lump there. "This is the worst," she muttered to herself. The phrase had long lost its power for her, but she still sometimes said it to remind herself who she was.

"This is the worst," a voice said mockingly from the doorway behind her. "You're a funny one, Mozart. What are you trying to do? Bring down the ceiling with your 'beautiful' music?"

She didn't have to turn around to know who the owner of the voice was. "I wouldn't be talking like that," she said quietly. "What did I see last night, again? Oh yes, you were trying to fly. You fly well enough but you need to watch out for walls, trees, and Ruki. She doesn't like being your landing pad."

The figure from the doorway gave a thin growl. "I didn't come here to be insulted, Yoshino," the voice said in a more reasonable tone.

Yoshino turned around to face the figure, still gripping her chest. She looked the blonde over, from head to foot. She was younger, with piercing sea green eyes and a confident smile was almost always on her lips. This time, there was no smile but a tight lipped expression that showed her irritation. Like Yoshino, there was faint traces of blood on the shirt she was wearing. "I see. Well neither did I, Izumi," Yoshino replied. "I came to practice in peace and you came barging in here like you own the place."

"I did not!" Izumi snapped. Although her face was still a pale white, Yoshino could tell that her face would have been flushed if it could.

"I mean," Izumi said in a more reasonable tone, trying to calm down. "I didn't. I just wanted to tell you that _they_ caught another."

Yoshino gave a low sigh. "Is that all?" she asked quietly. "Which world is she from?"

"Mine."

Yoshino raised a thin eyebrow. "Yours?" Yoshino asked feeling surprised. "So I take it that you know her."

"I do, though hardly," Izumi said, her voice uncharacteristically calm. "And things were just starting to look up for her..."

"I see. So... What's her name?"

"Chiaki."

Yoshino gave another sigh and turned back to the piano. "This makes four of us 'living dead'. Why do I have a feeling Ruki is going to be ecstatic about this newcomer?"

"Because I am. If they keep on choosing people from powerful worlds, I think we'll be able to fight back."

-

He sat lazily in front of the others, his eyes flickering from minion to minion. Of course they never thought of themselves as minions but allies. He gave a small smile to himself, showing his vampire teeth.

"Another one was found," he announced, standing to his full height.

In the dim light of the room, a pair of red eyes flashed with anger. A pair of teeth, just as sharp as his, was bared with anger. "Oh yes," a female voice said sarcastically. "Another _was_ found. Someone who is, oh I don't know, basically related to me! That _Izumi_ is finally getting what she deserves but what did the other do?!"

A shimmer of metal betrayed the movements of another. "By all rights we shouldn't be here," a masculine voice said, part sympathetic and part amused. "Quit your whining."

His grin widened. "He's right, you know and I thought you hated human females," he taunted the first speaker.

"Fine," the female voice retorted, slightly embarrassed. "Be that way. I didn't say anything. Quit laughing, Spider Face."

Another female voice had started laughing in a haughty way that seemed to annoy the other. "Oh? Stop laughing?" she asked in a condescending tone. "Do you want me to get down on my knees and worship you like those brain-dead morons in your world, too?"

"Shut up," the first female voice muttered. "I'm not in the mood to evolve and stomp you flat."

"I wasn't beaten by a little blonde girl," the second continued. "You were, though. Why? Oh, yes. You were the faulty link in your plan..."

Another female voice chipped in. "What's wrong with being blonde?" she asked. "If it has something to do with being dumb, I assure you I'm not one of the dumb blondes. I can outwit a genius."

"And killed by one," the male voice said flatly. "So much for strategy."

"Honey never made strategies," another male voice said dreamily. "She is my type. I feel that we shouldn't have taken her heart. I will never say this out loud, of course, for this is treason."

The owner of the third female voice smacked the second male voice with what sounded like a stick of some kind. "We can hear you, Ivan," she said flatly. "Can't you keep anything inside that thick head of yours?"

"You must be psychic, I didn't say that out loud," Ivan said.

"Enough," the leader said loudly. "You, please keep your mouth shut in the future. This means you, too, Ivan. To change the subject, we have located another possible candidate. This time from my own world."

"Which one?" the second female voice asked eagerly.

"The one of Light, Hikari."

There was murmured excitement around the room.


	2. Dominance

Chapter One: Dominance

Darkness and pain.

The only thing that informed her that she was alive was the pain deep in her chest. As her eyes flickered open, her hand clutched her chest. When she removed her hand, she was horrified to find the hand bloody.

She faintly took in the fact that she was laying spread-eagle on a bed. The walls were such an off-white color that it hurt her eyes slightly. "You're awake, Chiaki."

That voice... Izumi? It couldn't be, she had disappeared a few weeks before. Hadn't she? "Izumi? I thought... I thought..."

Izumi had crossed the room in large easy steps. She sat by Chiaki's side on the bed. Putting a hand on her shoulder, she gently stopped her attempt to sit up. "Thought what? Did you think I was dead?" Her tone was soft and gentle, as if she didn't want to alarm Chiaki.

"I...I...I don't know. It hurts, Izumi."

"I know, Chiaki," Izumi said in the same soft tone. "Just don't move, the pain will go away in a few hours."

"What happened?"

Izumi paused, mulling over this question. "It's...hard to explain, Chiaki," she murmured. "I don't even know what happened to myself. Not totally, anyways."

Chiaki, lying back down, looked out the small window set in the wall. "Where are we?" she asked quietly, knowing deep down she wouldn't like the answer. "Where are the guys?"

"I...don't know, Chiaki," Izumi replied, trying to keep her tone neutral and calm. Her air of calmness was faltering and Chiaki sensed it. "They'll probably think we're dead."

"Won't they try to come and get us, Izumi?" Chiaki asked nervously. "Won't they rescue us?"

"No, no. They won't. They don't even know where we are. It's not in the Digital World we know, Chiaki, I know that much."

Chiaki only stared up the ceiling. "Really?" she said, speaking in a hushed tone. "Izumi, I'm scared."

Izumi sat, watching Chiaki with a careful eye. "I know," she stated. "Believe me, it's not unusual."

"Are you? Scared, I mean?"

Izumi raised her eyes skyward, as if seeking patience. "Yes, _Chiaki._"

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Don't worry about it."

-

She carelessly turned over one of her many Digimon trading cards. It happened to be an IceDevimon card and she gave an involuntary shudder. The faint memory of that Digimon's cold arms closing around her was fresh enough to invoke slight terror.

"Is it too cold for the ice queen?"

"Shut up, Izumi. I'm not in the mood," Ruki stated bluntly, from her position over her cards. "It's none of your business. I'm _busy_."

Izumi, from her position of standing near Ruki's doorway, gave a low snort. "Sure, I believe you," Izumi said sarcastically. "Not."

Ruki flipped over another card. This time it was the feline Digimon, Tailmon. "I suggest you leave," Ruki said, flipping over a Leomon card. "Or you'll leave my room with a broken nose, Blondie."

"So? It won't bleed," Izumi said, still maintaining a hearty tone with Ruki. "No heart, remember? Oh right. I just remembered. You never had a heart."

Ruki rolled her eyes, concentrating more on the cards in front of her than on Izumi. "How would you know that?" she replied in the same sarcastic tone Izumi had used. "Do blondes have that much brainpower to come up with that?"

"At least I fight my own battles, Queenie. At least_ I _fight and not hide behind some Digimon like a coward."

"Are you calling me a coward?" Ruki asked, standing up. The two never got along and most of the time Yoshino kept an uneasy peace between the two through the virtue of being the oldest and, technically, an adult. "At least if I tried to fly, _I_ wouldn't crash."

"Oh? How do you know? Are you Peter Pan?" Izumi asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, if you are indeed Peter Pan that would explain a lot of things."

"Like what?" Ruki asked, moving closer to Izumi. Izumi simply gave Ruki a pitying look.

"Like why you're so much like a boy. Even dreary Yoshino understands she's a girl."

It had only took a moment for Ruki to act. Apparently, Izumi hadn't expected her to react. So when Izumi found herself pinned to the wall by Ruki, she only gave a low growl of mixed surprise and anger. "I _told_ you, Blondie," Ruki snarled. "I'm not in the _mood._ It's a fine thing to call me a coward when you can't fight without that freaking 'cellphone' of yours and you lost it."

Izumi glared right back at Ruki. "I never lost it," she snapped right back at Ruki. "You stole it. I bet you stole Chiaki's, too."

"So what if I did? Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Maybe Yoshino took it. Does it even matter, Blondie? What are you going to do about? I'll tell you. Nothing. Nothing at all. You aren't going to tell that slut friend of yours-"

Izumi broke Ruki off. "What did you call her?" she demanded. Izumi muttered some Italian phrases after the initial question that didn't sound complementary to Ruki, even though she couldn't understand them.

"In blonde speak, Izumi, I called her a slut. Got a problem with it? Deal. Why? Simply put, you're a slut and sluts tend to hang out with other sluts. Gah!"

Izumi, angered, had simply slammed her head into Ruki's forehead to make her let go.

-

Yoshino winced as the noises and raised voices were carried down the hall. She looked sympathetically at the newcomer Chiaki. "That'd be Ruki and Izumi," she sighed. "You'll get used to them. Though I'd suggest you come up with some good insults in self-defense just in case."

"Izumi wouldn't..." Chiaki trailed off in mid-sentence.

Yoshino gave a sad shrug. "Izumi might not," she said. "But I can't promise you anything about Ruki. She's...different from Izumi, you, and me. I can't tell you why, though, I don't know myself. There's just something...odd about her."

Chiaki glumly looked down at Yoshino's piano. "So I should just try to keep out of their way, then?"

"Yes," Yoshino replied, positioning herself back on the piano stool. "Oh and don't try to take a side. Just try to keep out of the way. If they insult you, insult them right back. That's what they expect."

-

Masaru punched blindly in the dark. "Damn," he muttered to himself. "Where the hell are we?"

Tohma, from his position near the left of Masaru, dodged a blow neatly. "I have no idea," Tohma admitted. "It would be better, though, not to try punching in the dark. You might hit Yoshino."

"Master is right," Gaomon agreed.

"She's not here," Masaru grumbled. "She vanished, remember? Then within ten minutes we ended up here."

"And we have no idea where we are," Tohma added for him. "Although if I could see a landmark of some kind, I'm sure I could pinpoint our location."

A female voice gave a low giggle. "I highly doubt that," she said.

Tohma turned around quickly. "Nanami?" he asked slowly, as the familiar figures of Kurata's henchmen came closer.

There was a loud pop of someone's chewing gum and a masculine voice sighed. "Yeah, it's her alright," Kouki muttered. "Did you think Nanami and I was dead? So did we."

"Honey's group! I must not reveal where we came from!" Ivan muttered to himself.

Nanami gave him a whack on the back with her umbrella. "Shut up, Ivan," she said. "We don't have time for you."

Masaru, making out the outline of Kouki, charged. His intended victim sidestepped him with ease. "Get out of our way," Kouki stated bluntly. "We don't have time for revenge."

"_Baby Flame!_"

The group of henchmen scattered when Agumon attacked with his fireball attack. "Damn it!" shouted Kouki, getting up from where he had dived to escape the attack.

"It seems that you need a helping hand," chimed in another voice, coming up from behind the group.

Nanami gave a groan. "Oh, it's just you Ranamon. I thought it was someone important," she muttered.

"Why you little... Humph. Maybe I won't help you after all," Ranamon retorted. "Hows that for respect... The little cowards ran off!"

Indeed, as quickly as they had come, the three had simply ran off. To do what, only they knew. Masaru turned around, his fist swinging at the new foe. The punch missed by a long shot. Tohma simply stood there, quietly assessing the situation with Gaomon at his side. The newcomer Ranamon was only slightly shorter than Masaru, calm and collected. Her red eyes looked over the small group with only slight interest.

-

In the darkness, a single stain glass window stood. Elegant and fragile, it seemed to simply float in the air, held up by an unknown force. A young girl was pictured, her brown hair cut short. Around this main picture, eight symbols of different colors went around the outside of the window in a repeating pattern. In the girl's arms a white cat with purple tufts on it's ears sat. The cat seemed to stare at any who happened to pass the window. The shadowed figure of an angel stood behind the young girl and her cat.

The area around the window had seemed peaceful enough. That is, until Kouki, Nanami, and Ivan came to it.

* * *

Edited for some characterzation errors.

And yes, I realize Ruki's a bit OOC. All I have to say on that matter is that she doesn't have a heart at the moment.


	3. Chasing the Shadows

Chapter Two: Chasing of the Shadows

Sabirdramon, ever the watcher, stood quietly in the shadows of her home. The place between worlds was always quiet to her ears and it suited her quite well. A thin metal claw tapped her back. Sabirdramon turned her large head and looked down on the robotic shadow creature behind her. "Depthmon," she said bluntly. "What'd you want?"

The shadow Digimon gave a hollow laugh. "I want the same thing you do," he said dryly. "More hearts to devour."

"Of course," Sabirdramon nodded. "That's what we're here for..."

Depthmon scratched the back of his neck ruefully. "Borne out of greed and hatred, feeding on hearts to live until death when the gatekeeper comes," he murmured. "Well, that damned Vamdemon did say that was all that we were good for."

Sabirdramon looked over her beak, peering into the darkness at a faint light. The gateway of a world, what world she didn't care, there was sure to be more prey and a feast to be had wherever the gate led. "Be that way," Sabirdramon said. "I'm going hunting."

Slamming his flipper-like tail on the hard ground, Depthmon stopped Sabirdramon. "Hear that?" he asked. "Two young humans...They seem to be lost... Oh? Two Digimon, too? It looks to be our lucky day, Sabirdramon."

Indeed, Sabirdramon could hear and faintly see the outlines of four shapes. "Hm... Male, too, if their voices are anything to go one... Young, strong..." Her voice trailed off.

-

They had told Lilithmon to stay until they came back with Hikari. She wasn't like the other shadow Digimon Vamdemon 'summoned' to devour the hearts of the seven chosen girls. No, she wouldn't wait patiently until they came back. She couldn't wait that long, her hunger was far too strong. No wall, no prison, not even a portal to a different world could hold a shadow Digimon prisoner for long. As Lilithmon quickly proved, escaping from the world created for Vamdemon's plans posed no trouble for her.

She had followed Ivan, Nanami, and Kouki slowly and quietly when they started searching for Hikari. Lilithmon only needed to know which world her prey was in... If they tried to stop her, well, they had hearts after all.

Lilithmon was coming and she was hungry.

-

"I hope you're satisfied," Mercuremon said, smiling slightly at Ranamon. Ranamon, who only had to distract Tohma and Masaru until Kurata's henchmen got to the window, had retreated when the battle started to tip in her opponent's favor.

"Bah," she replied, rubbing her sore back. "You know I was supposed to go easy on them. I could've squished them easily enough."

Leaning against the smooth stone wall, Mercuremon gave a low chuckle. "Oh?" he asked. "Is that why you retreated before their Digimon even evolved?"

Ranamon rolled her eyes in response. "_Yes_, Mercuremon," she said, trying hard to keep from snapping at Mercuremon. "I had to, you know that."

"But of course, my dearest Ranamon," Mercuremon said, quite amused by it all. "I understand perfectly well."

"Just don't tell that Arachnemon or Nanami, they wouldn't let me live it down. Hah, those two nitwits couldn't understand a planned retreat if you glued the meaning to their forehead."

"Indeed," Mercuremon replied, still amused at the thought of his companion retreating on her own.

"Humph. I feel so loved."

-

Izumi was in a foul temper. She didn't really know the real reason why she was angry, the only thing that she just was.

_Ruki._

When everything had seemed to be going well enough, that _coward_ vanished. Yoshino and Chiaki agreed that she probably escaped. Izumi, on the other hand, was under the belief that Ruki was secretly working with _them_.

Ruki.

That... That... Izumi didn't have a word in her vocabulary for what she thought of Ruki.

Her reflection... It looked strange to her... Maybe she was tired? No, it wasn't that...The room was so small... More room... She needed more room... More room...

The window... It was small but it would serve her purpose well enough.

Chiaki and Yoshino would never truly find out what happened to the two other girls that had been captured before them.

* * *

Short chapter, I know. I'm sorry but I wanted to get another chapter out before Hikari and Taichi are properly introduced.


End file.
